The parcel carrier and logistics provider’s DHL Freight division has expanded its rail transport offerings to and from Asia and North Africa via its hub at Duisburg to include direct links and consolidation services.
DHL is expanding its rail transport offerings to and from Asia and North Africa via its Duisburger Hafen AG (Duisport) hub in Germany, the company said.
The parcel carrier and logistics provider has begun offering two new direct multimodal services between the regions and consolidation services at the DHL Freight Terminal Duisburg. The new weekly groupage rail services offer transit times of 22 days to 24 days between Western Europe and China.
As a result, DHL Freight customers will be able to leverage the time and cost advantages of rail transportation compared with ocean or airfreight alternatives. Customers will also benefit from the geographical location of Duisburg, which is in close proximity to the European economic regions, as well as “outstanding” logistic connections and infrastructure, DHL said.
Since 2013, DHL has been expanding its multimodal network between China, Russia and Europe through its rail links and access to ports in Antwerp, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. In addition, DHL full-truckload or containerload customers can link to intermodal connections within Europe in cooperation with Duisburger Hafen AG.
“Use of rail networks as a transport route between Asia and Europe has proven to be a highly effective solution at DHL and is very well received by our customers as a genuine alternative,” DHL Freight CEO Amadou Diallo said in a statement. “In this connection, Duisburg plays a key role as a transport hub. Shorter routes to customers and excellent intermodal connections provide many opportunities for faster delivery and the leveraging of cost advantages.
“We therefore intend to consistently expand this segment,” he said. “Through our new LCL products in the DHL Railconnect segment, we can leverage the strengths of our overland transport networks to the great benefit of our customers. And we can do so all the way to North Africa. We already have customers whose commodity flows can thus be processed from China via Europe to Tunisia through the multimodal combination of road, rail and short-sea.”
“400 trains per week connect the port of Duisburg – the most important hub in the European hinterland – with more than 80 direct destinations in Europe and Asia,” Duisburger Hafen AG CEO Erich Staake said. “Through the broad range of logistics services at the site, Duisburg thus offers an ideal starting point for dispatching rail transports directly on site and ensuring efficient pre and post-transport.”
DHL launches two new multimodal services
